Mike Aguirre Announces Legal Action Against San Onofre Settlement

Above: The San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station at San Onofre State Beach in a 2012 photo.

Former City Attorney and consumer advocate Mike Aguirre announced Monday he is filing legal documents opposing the proposed settlement that decides who will pay for the closure of the San Onofre nuclear power plant.

A radioactive leak forced the plant to go offline in 2012 before permanently shutting down last year.

The deal was worked out between utilities and several consumer groups. Aguirre disputes claims that the deal saves money for utility customers.

“Now what they’re saying is, we put in four defective steam generators, and we want you to pay for a portion of those. We also want you to pay for all of the damage that has been inflicted on the San Onofre nuclear power plant. We want you to pay us a return on all of that. And we’re going to tell you in the meantime that you’re going to get a refund, but actually there’s no refund. All your going to do is pay $3.3 billion more in rates,” Aguirre said.

Officials at Southern California Edison, the pant's majority owner, have said the settlement could save consumers $1.4 billion.

Aguirre also said he wants Edison and the other utilities to stop double-dipping. He said ratepayers are paying for electricity the plant is capable of generating, even though it is not running, and owners are charging customers for replacement power.